House Speaker Jase Bolger likes to talk about his members rising above politics to do what is right for the state and not necessarily what’s right for the politicians.

He’s got a perfect opportunity to drive home the point as the scrimmage over what to do with the state surplus reaches critical mass.

In one corner are House members who think using a chunk of the extra moola should go back to the citizens who also happen to vote. While some are sincere about helping the folks back home, others in a more self-serving mode know it’s the right thing for them to do to cement their re-election bid.

In the other corner is an increasing chorus of those who argue the tax rebate money should actually go into potholes and not their constituent’s pocketbooks.

In that category is Rep. Joe Haveman (R-West Michigan) who carries some influence in this debate given his chairmanship of the House Appropriations panel.

“If the refund, rebate, or whatever you want to call it, is so small and doesn’t make a difference,” he would prefer to fix the potholes. He heard that loud and clear from his local Chamber of Commerce the other day and he saw it in a recent poll suggesting three times as many folks would prefer that over an income tax rollback.

Mr. Haveman would like to do both if possible but if not, “my first priority is the roads.”

Applying logic to all this, which often means squat when it comes to politics, proponents of road spending claim motorists who get devoured by a pot hole will pay a lot more to fix their cars - thus the savings from avoiding that far exceeds the $75 bucks you might get in a tax rebate.

Lawmakers have signaled they get this point as they are likely to send $100 million back home to restore the sagging snow removal budgets of local governments. Everyone knows that’s not enough.

Tax cuts vs. fix the roads?

It will be a revealing choice.

Watch "Off the Record with Tim Skubick" online anytime at video.wkar.org